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Liliani Empire
The Liliani Empire was a former nation which was founded by Aratacius I around 2000 BP. The Empire grew out of the Kingdom of Micholerdia (current day Estontetso) and rose to hold vast territories across Longerath. History Laviscos Dynasty, 2000-1978 BP Founding of the Empire The original core of the Liliani Empire was essentially located in modern day Estontetso, around the old Kingdom of Micholerdia. Before the proclamation, Micholerdia's king (and Liliana's first emperor) Aratacius I had already lead his armies to victory over Peganhosa and northern Burburreica. With his proclamation as Emperor Aratacius I of Liliana, he would probably have continued to expand. However, Aratacius died the same year he established his empire. His son, Jamius I ("Jame" in modern Estontetsan) suceeded him. Jamius had similar goals as his father, and set about expanding Liliana. He and his sucessors (of which there were remarkably many for such a short space of time, indicating just how dangerous early Liliani politics could be) expanded the empire to cover all of Peganhosa plus a stretch of barbarian lands, and pushed Liliani frontiers further into Gregurdicia/Goramia. Also among the conquests of the Lavascos dynasty was the small kingdom of Estontalle, established by the Eshi tribe of modern Neoliliana. Janados Dynasty, 1978-1890 BP In 1978 BP, the last emperor of the Lavascos dynasty, Jamius II, was killed by his senior general, Tocapedrius (Toka). A few years later in 1975 BP, the political fluctuations created by this change in power had settled down, and the borders of Liliana were defined. To the west of the Liliani Empire were the tribes of modern Neoliliana and the tribes of the Escorpionican ethnicity. Most were still nomadic or without political structure. Liliana did have two nations along side it, however, being Kagere, the first such nation to form in the region, and Qella, the most advanced. Also on the western border were the Gorami peoples of Gregurdicia, who were stubbornly resisting conquest by the Liliani forces. In the south were Alembida and the remainder of Burburreica. Burburreica was no longer a political power, with its heartland under Liliani rule, but these outer regions remained a unitary state for some time before collapsing into tribal groups. Alembida, however, was still relatively strong, and maintained a well-disciplined and well-equipped military. It was also a superb naval power, and was more than a match for the still-developing Liliani fleet. Alembida outwardly appeased the Lilianis, but retained a deep resentment againt them for seizing Alembidan land to establish a corridor to the west coast. To the south of Alembida was Dascagnia, a kingdom formed by the Gardlies tribe. Dascagnia was, while a single state, much more primative than Liliana or Alembida. Liliani Expansion In 1951 BP, the Liliani armies finally turned away from their war against the Escorpionican tribes and moved south. Their expansion into the southern half of the continent was blocked by Alembida, and so Liliana invaded. The Alembidans put up the most successful defense the Lilianis had encountered yet, and the Lilianis payed dearly for every mile. Eventually, however, Alembida fell, and the southern plains lay open to the Liliani imperial forces. Marching into the heart of Dascagnia, they encountered little opposition to begin with. This changed when the chieftain of the Dascagnians, Fergus, rallied the tribes around him. Fergus met the Liliani legions, under the command of the general Augusto Claudio, at the battle of Werrian. It was the largest pitched battle fought by the Liliani Empire in its conquest of the south, and in it, the Lilianis decisively defeated the Gardlian tribes. Fergus was killed in battle, and with his death, resistance to Liliana collapsed, leaving the invaders virtually unopposed. Dascagnia became part of the Liliani Empire. During the Dascagnian campaign, the once powerful Kingdom of Samuelonia requested protection from the Liliani Empire and the Kingdom became an important vassal state on the southern border of the Empire. Garanhoes Dynasty, 1890-1782 In 1890 BP, Emperor Comesias I, first of the Garanones dynasty, launched an invasion of Uestadagnia, which quickly fell, leaving all of modern Dascunya under Liliani rule. At about the same time as the conquest of Uestadagnia, Liliana formed an alliance with Kagere, one of the small kingdoms on its eastern border in what is now Neoliliana. This alliance was against another ancient Neoliliani state, Auria, which was at war with Kagere. Liliana sent its armies against Auria, and easily overcame the far smaller state. In exchange for this, Kagere allowed the former Auria to become a part of Liliana. Liliana established itself in the region with the province of Liliana Minor. Liliana then turned its attention northwards, conquering all of modern Draconia. This was to become the Liliani province of Liliana Superior ("Upper Liliana"). The Lilianis then moved eastwards, into what would become the province of Portum Mare. Pimbas Dynasty, 1782-1587 During the conquest of the north, the Lilianis and Kagere, the nation with which Liliana had allied against Auria, had a falling out. Liliana promptly sent its armies across the border into Kagere, and quickly subdued the kingdom. It was joined to the province of Liliana Minor, which also included the former Auria. In 1636 BP, Liliani forces in the south made a small expansion to imperial territory with the conquest of the southern plains, which they named Caesarea Evora. Also of note are the sovereign states remaining outside Liliani control. Cruisana was never invaded by Liliana, and maintained its independence. Ships from Cruisana were frequent visitors to Liliani ports on the eastern coast, and contact was sufficient to spread the Liliani alphabet and introduce certain words to the Ingallish language. Escorpionica was a state formed by a federation of tribes, all of which belonged to the ethnic group now named after the nation. It slowly moved away from a federation to be a full monarchy, in the style of the old Estontetsan style. At one point, it gained control over the formerly independent nation of Gregurdica/Goramia. Lendosa was a kingdom formed when the Treaty of Solaris unified the island kingdoms of Lendia and Piolhosa. It was a significant force, both militarily, economically, and politically, although not as significant as the vast Liliani holdings. However, Lendosa had the advantage that most of its territory was ethnically related to them, whereas the Lilianis had to rule peoples who felt no belonging to Liliana. The Lendosans and the Lilianis were, however, of the same ethnic group, the Lendosans having once been colonists from the historic Estontetsan kingdoms, particularly Alembida. There had been a long history of antagonism between Liliana and Lendosa, as the colonies in Lendia had once been nominally under Liliani authority but had renounced imperial authority. Liliana had always held that all the colonial powers that settled Lendosa were now a part of Liliana, the former colonies should also be so. Lendosa had been involved in colonization itself, settling the Percevejan peninsula and parts of northern Smalik. Its Percevejanian territory actually met with imperial Liliani holdings, and it was possible that the Lendosans would colonize the western coast of southern Longerath before the Lilianis could get to it. In modern Caboteniasa, the people that the Lendosans call Sjomanians were just beginning to establish nations, with various kingdoms that were the ancestors of Väring, Dahlia, and Cabotenia all being founded at roughly the same time. These states were affected a moderate amount by Lendosa and its colonization along the northern coast. Berberroes Dynasty, 1585-1296 About a century and a half later, in 1447 BP, the balance of power tilted even more heavilly in favour of Liliana. By way of a diplomatic marriage, the Kingdom of Escorpionica was integrated into the Liliani Empire as a province. Liliana gained control of all of Escorpionica's military and resources intact, without fighting a war. However, the region of Gregurdica/Gorami, which had been a part of Escorpionica, refused to become a Liliani territory, and so severed its ties with Escorpionica. It thus became an independent nation again. In 1399, the tensions between Liliana and Lendosa became too great, and relations collapsed. This was primarily due to the king of Lendosa at the time, Margun. Margun had siezed power through political plotting, and turned out to be one of the worst administrators ever. He was, apart from being immensely tyrannical, completly and utterly incompetent. One of the ways that this incompetence manifested itself was in his foreign policy. Margun's position was made all the more unstable due to a number of rebellions, especially in Piolhosa, aimed at placing the old king's son on the throne. At the beginning of the next year, Liliani forces crossed the border into Percevejan, controled by Lendosa. The First Lendian War, as it was somewhat incorrectly called, had begun. The subjugation of Percevejan would not be completed until 1342 BP, when the First Lendian War was ended by a treaty seceding Percevejan to the Liliani Empire. The ending of the war did not help Magun's position overly much. A full-scale military and popular rebellion in Piolhosa removed that half of Lendosa from his control, and rebellions continued to threaten Lendia as well. The year after the treaty, Margun was assassinated by a member of his personal bodyguard who had lost his son in a pointless battle during the war. He was replaced by a council of the five most senior military officers. In 1329, war broke out again, partly due to the hostile attitude shown by the military council and partly due to Liliani imperialistic hopes. The Second Lendian War was, in actual fact, concerned only with Lendia and not Lendosa, with Liliana launching a direct invasion of Lendia itself. The Kingdom of Lendosa, still in turmoil as regards its government, did not survive, and Piolhosa declared independence. An attempt was made to establish a kingdom, but this ultimately failed due to hostility between the regions of Piolhosa, particularly over the granting of kingship. Piolhosa entered a downward spiral and eventually collapsed into anarchy. In Lendia, the council of generals retained precarious control. The political instability, however, and the breakup of Lendosa, meant that Lendia was hard-pressed to put up a resistance to the Liliani invaders. Slowly but steadily, the Liliani forces gained ground. In 1296 BP, they captured the Lendian capital, and established the province of Lendiana over half of the island. They continued to push westwards along the island, meeting heavy resistance. By 1158, the Lilianis had conquered almost all of Lendia except for the northwestern tip of the island. This was held by a newly formed coalition of the remaining Lendian armies and the remnants of the Regnosian Empire, which still survived in the remote corner of the island where the colonists had never penetrated. The Lendians and the Regnosians, who had once fought constantly, had allied against a common foe. The conquest of this region of Lendia was forestalled for almost sixty years by the biggest Regnosian contribution to the war; not armies but a wall. The Regnosians had always been excellent stoneworkers, with their masonry surpassing anything else of the time. In a massive effort which combined Regnosian planning with Lendian resources and work, the alliance constructed a wall across the whole island, right to the shore at each and and with no gaps anywhere inland. Military fortifications were established all along the wall, and the alliance easilly repelled the Liliani attacks. The idea of a wall had come from the Lilianis themselves, who had constructed their own wall, the Wall of Jamius IV, built around the former Lendian capital to prevent its recapture. This wall was what caused the Lendians to abandon all hope of regaining Lendia, and concentrate on defending what they had - with their own wall. The wall was known as the Wall of Aroblin, after a Regnosian town located roughly half-way along it and used as a command post. The Wall of Aroblin finally fell by treachery, with the Lilianis infiltrating one of the wall's forts and poisoning its drinking water. How the Lilianis infiltrated the fort is not known, but it is believed that a Lendian who was sympathetic to Liliana (or heavily paid) was positioned so as to be captured by a Regnosian force sent outside the wall to harass the Lendians. Once within the wall, he said that he wanted to help fight the Lilianis, who had destroyed his home. He was subsequently given a non-military post in one of the forts. There, he poured poison into the fort's drinking water. Within the day, the vast majority of the fort's defenders were dead, and it was an easy matter for the Liliani army, which had been waiting, to storm the empty fort and open the pathway for more Liliani troops. Within a few years, all of Lendia was under Liliani control. During the long war of conquest in Lendia, the Liliani Empire had also been expanding elsewhere, a testament to the vast power of the Lilianis. In 1301 BP, as they were gaining the upper hand in Lendia, the Lilianis had taken the opportunity to expand their terrirory in the south up to the western coast, now that the Lendians were no longer present in Percevejan. Arrebimbas Dynasty, 1296-1156 In 1275 BP, after the conquest of the Lendian capital, the construction of the Wall of Jamius V, and the retreat of the Lendians, Liliana launched an invasion of the continent of Smalik. The primary target of the invasion was the string of former Lendosan colonies along the coast, which were now independent. Liliana formed an alliance with several of the neighbouring Sjomanian kingdoms which launched a combined attack. Some of the Lendosan colonies were absorbed into the Sjomanian fold, while others, those to the east and furthest from the Sjomanians, became Liliani possessions. From its enclaves, Liliani forces embarked upon the conquest of the primative Bowdanian tribes of the interior, conquering as far as the inland sea of Smalik. This region was Budania. The territorial expansion of Liliana was almost complete, with the exception of Gregurdicia/Goramia and southern Burburreica. Southern Burburreica was joined to the Liliani province in northern Burburreica when a delegation of tribal chieftains petitioned the Emperor for it, hoping to gain the prosperity that northern Burburreica seemed to be enjoying, and Gregurdica was annexed when, due to a political marriage some time back, the Emperor of Liliana found himself with a legitimate claim to the Gregurdican throne. While his claim was not uncontested, Liliana's military might saw that he did inherit and thus bring the last Liliani acquisition into place. Bejufas Dynasty, 1156-600 Lendia fell to Liliana in 1156 BP suffering huge loses to its population and all territories save Lendia itself over the 250-year "war." Emperor Jame dies in battle, and his heirs are found dead heralding the beginning of the Bejufas dynasty. In 1130 BP Southern Berburreidica is added to Berburreidica province when the locals ask to be included in the empire. In 1119 BP Goramia is absorbed by Liliana through dynastic marriage and becomes Gregurdicum, the eighteenth and last province of the Liliani Empire. Finding the extensive territory of Dascugnium and Uestadegnium difficult to control by 934 BP, the old provincial system in both territories is replaced with a county system. Dascugnium was divided in eight counties: Vilina, Ystria, Odeland, Devrognia, Gardmoor, Klerengard, Ockenham and Angialda. Uestadegnium was divided in three counties: Zorriaga, Adnemar and Fluvis. All the counts had to swear fealty to the Emperor. This is the first recorded use of Feudalism in Longerath. Rising out of barbarism, Lendia declares the first republic and makes peace with Liliana in 714 BP. The Count's Rebellion Main article: The Count's Rebellion In 712 BP in southern Liliana, the counties of Ystria, Vilinia, Odeland, Gardmoor and Klerengard in Dascunya, and all the counties of Uestadenia, began a revolution against the Empire of Liliana. The counties of Devrognia, Okenham and Angialda chose not to participate in the revolution, and fought against the rebel counties. The vassal Kingdom of Samuelonia joined the war, siding with the Dascunyan and Uestadenian counties. The rebel allies fought a successful war of independence against the empire and the victorious counties proclaimed the Kingdom of Dascunya, including the old provinces of Dascugnium and Faeniccia Minor, and the Kingdom of Uestadenia, including the old provinces of Uestadenia and Caesaria. The loyalist counties of Angialda and Devrognia remained part of Liliana. Decline of the Lilani Empire Liliani Emperors Lavascas Dynasty 2000 BP - 1978 BP *Aratacius I (2000 BP) - Founder of the Liliani Empire. Died the same year. *Jamius I (1999 BP - 1988 BP) - Died of illness. *Tomalimus I (1987 BP - 1984 BP) - Killed in battle against Peganhosa. *Savastius I (1983 BP - 1981 BP) - Assassinated by Burburreican rebel assassin. *Aratacius II (1980 BP - 1979 BP) - Assassinated by republican extremists. *Aratacius III (1979 BP) - Emperor for three days following his father's death. Was then murdered himself. *Icapivus I (1979 BP) - Second child of Aratacius II. Emperor for three minutes after brother's death. *Jamius II (1978 BP) - Murdered by Tocapedrius, his general. Janadus Dynasty 1977 BP - 1890 BP *Tocapedrius I (1977 BP - 1970 BP) - Founder of the Janadus dynasty. Killed by his son Cecamones. *Cecamones (1969 BP - 1958 BP) - Abdicated in favour of his brother. *Axutus I (1957 BP - 1940 BP) *Tomalimus II (1983 BP - 1981 BP) - Assassinated by a junior general. *Tentius (1980 BP - 1915 BP) - Died of a mysterious illness. *Ganus (1915 BP - 1908 BP) - Died of illness. *Trinius (1907 BP - 1890 BP) - Poisoned by a noble.